out walking

Sometimes being a parent is so all consuming that I forget to look up, have difficulty seeing outside of my own profound relationship with my child. But when I do glance up for a moment I catch these beautiful glimpses of my boy making his own relationships with the world. It is a delight to watch Ari fall in love with his grandparents and to see the joy he brings to their faces. He doesn't want to let them out of his sight and shrieks when they leave the house if even just to step out the door for a moment. He spends his meals watching them intently, giving them silly grins when they talk to him and wiggling in excitement.
It is incredible really, watching a baby grow. A year ago he was still inside me, a part of me, inside my very skin. This was such an intense time, full of quiet anticipation and expectation and excitement and fear. Knowing soon I would get to meet my baby; soon this baby would no longer be a part of me. And this whole year has been an extension and a continuation of those experiences. Every new achievement he has made- learning to breastfeed, smiling, sitting up, crawling, walking- is a celebration of his learning and a realization that he is becoming more and more himself. And as he blossoms into his own unique incredible person he also grows a teensy bit further away from being that baby-in-the-womb. Of course these steps are incremental. I cannot currently leave the room without a squeal of protest and often have a baby attached to my leg or hip or tucked inside a sling. He is of course, still a baby, still my baby.
But he is growing up too, and growing quickly. Turning ever more sweet and lovely and deliciously him by the day.